. Needed, education data that engages the poor parent

 . Needed, education data that engages the poor parent

Background:

Data from different education surveys like the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) and the National Achievement Survey (NAS) have often come out with some contradicting observations.The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is led by the non-governmental organisation, Pratham, while the National Achievement Survey (NAS) is led by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).While one report highlights the marked fall in learning outcomes, the other has highlighted improvement. For example, according to ASER 2019 data, Rajasthan was among the bottom five States in learning levels, while in NAS 2017, Rajasthan was among the top performers.

Concerns:

Limited utility of data:

• Currently, the surveys gather data on enrolments, retention, learning, infrastructure, and teacher training to understand the state of our public school system. This data is of limited utility to galvanize the masses. Much of the data generated by these well-known surveys has limited utility for the parents who send their children to government schools.

Lack of involvement of the people in policymaking:

• The district and school development plans introduced in national-level programmes such as the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) have largely remained administrative practices. They do not incorporate the views of the parents and the masses.

Recommendations:Better quality of data:

• There is the need to plan for a better quality of data which could be of utility to all stakeholders including parents who are one of the key constituencies of school data. There is also the need to intensify efforts to disseminate data among them.
• Actionable data for governance is the need of the hour.

Local vision of education:

• While a national-level policy on education is welcome, it alone won’t be sufficient. There is the need to evolve a vision at the State, district and local levels. This should be used to galvanize the local administrative and political system.
• There is the need to localize education policies keeping in line with the unique requirements.

Promoting people participation:

• Community-based consultative bodies such as the school management committees and parent-teacher committees should be empowered and their participation in policy-making facilitated.

Balancing objectives:

• The vision of school education must balance the immediate, tangible, popularly understandable objectives such as reading, writing as well as livelihood relevant skills and knowledge. Additionally, it should also incorporate aspects such as promoting peer connections, negotiating social diversity, and curiosity for new knowledge and experiences.